Alex grew up in a bilingual home speaking English and Spanish and has lived abroad in Ecuador. He is passionate about helping people learn Spanish and is currently a student at Brigham Young University.

Ryan has taught English and Japanese during his experience living in Japan for more than five years, including producing and implementing an English language seminar to Kyoto city public officials.

Learning methodologies

Why learn from authentic content as a beginner?

As a new language student, your brain gradually maps out the symbols, sights, and sounds of the target language you are immersed in—even more than you are consciously aware of. Actively listening to natural speech helps you make these important connections the right way from the start.

Natural speech by itself, however, often has too many new words at once and is spoken too quickly for most beginners to decipher. Instreamia helps you overcome this problem by having you iteratively listen for one word at a time as you repeat each sentence again and again. Over time, this incremental approach helps you understand and use language naturally.

How is learning in a MOOC different from studying alone?

Learning a new language is no easy task, and trying to do it all on your own can be overwhelming. It is no wonder why historically people have learned in classes—learning with an instructor, exchange partners, and student peers can increase motivation, improve learning outcomes, and create a more enjoyable learning environment.

Watch the video on the left to meet your instructor and hear more about SpanishMOOC's unique approach.

What learning activities will we do in the course?

The Adaptive Spanish courses include a wide variety of learning activities to interact with your instructor, peers, language coaches, and authentic content.

Click the graphic to the left to see the specific break down.

What is adaptive learning?

SpanishMOOC utilizes Instreamia's patent-pending adaptive learning technology to help you learn more effectively.

While learning from authentic videos, Instreamia will periodically probe your comprehension with simple knowledge checks, such as a fill-in-the-blank listening problem. The accuracy of your response in combination with other information in your learning profile helps Instreamia gauge your overall level, the types of problems you need to work on most, and which vocabulary you need more practice with.

By iteratively adjusting questions to your level, Instreamia intelligently adapts to meet your needs and help you learn faster and more effectively.